Outdoor Lighting in Texas (2026)

Killeen declares uplighting unlawful citywide under section 31-898(d), a direct response to light pollution that blocks…

Abilene requires all new outdoor lighting fixtures to be fully shielded so no light or glare spills onto adjacent…

New development in Arlington's Form-Based Zoning Districts must install pedestrian lighting certified by Darksky…

Austin requires public street and pedestrian lighting, parking lot lighting, pathway lighting, recreational-area…

Baytown requires cutoff and full cutoff light fixtures near homes, bans unshielded wall packs and floodlights, and caps…

In Bryan's Innovation Corridor overlay district, outdoor lighting is capped at 0.5 to 1.0 lumens at the property line…

Cedar Park requires all outdoor lighting fixtures to be full cutoff, concealed within opaque housing, and aimed…

Celina's zoning code mandates full-cutoff, shielded fixtures and caps light spill onto neighboring residential lots at…

Corpus Christi's Unified Development Code requires all outdoor lighting fixtures on new development to be cutoff or…

Dallas requires every outside light fixture in the city to pair its light source with a reflector so the beam stays…

Denton's Development Code requires full cutoff, shielded, downcast fixtures for parking lots and pedestrian paths…

El Paso runs a citywide dark-sky-style Outdoor Lighting Code that sorts every property into one of four lighting zones…

Farmersville limits residential outdoor lighting to one-quarter foot-candle at the property line and requires lights…

New outdoor luminaires over 1800 lumens in unincorporated Fort Bend County must be shielded by lamp type, and…

Frisco's Zoning Ordinance requires every outdoor light fixture on nonresidential property to be fully shielded so the…

Garland requires outdoor light fixtures to be down-light, indirect, diffused, or shielded with at least a 70-degree…

Grand Prairie's Unified Development Code requires outdoor light fixtures to be down-light, indirect, diffused or…

New development in Irving's State Highway 161 overlay district must shield every outdoor fixture with skirts or cutoffs…

Leander requires nonresidential outdoor lighting to be shielded and non-flashing so the light source isn't visible from…

New development in Lubbock's Base Mixed-Use districts must use International Dark-Sky Association-certified fixtures…

Midland's Zoning Ordinance names preserving the night sky as a lighting purpose and requires shielded, LED-only…

Nonresidential properties in Mission must use cut-off light fixtures and cap illumination at the property line, with…

New Braunfels caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring property at 0.25 foot-candles and requires full-cutoff…

Pharr's zoning code requires every artificial light source to be shielded so its direct rays never cross onto a…

Plano caps how much light can spill onto neighboring property to control sky glow: Sec. 6-474(d) ties outdoor fixtures…

Every outdoor light fixture in Richardson, in any zoning district, has to be built and aimed so its beam does not cross…

Rockwall requires exterior lights on private property to point down and be shielded, diffused, or indirect so they…

Rowlett's Development Code directs exterior lighting to control light pollution and recapture views to the night sky…

San Angelo caps outdoor lighting at 0.25 footcandles measured at a property line next to a home, and every luminaire…

San Antonio requires full-cutoff fixtures on residential lighting that reaches the property line, and caps parking-lot…

Every luminaire on a nonresidential or multi-family property in Sugar Land must be a full cutoff fixture that directs…

Taylor's 2024 Land Development Code devotes Section 5.7 to protecting the city's dark skies, and it is an offense to…

In Temple's I-35 Corridor Overlay District, outdoor fixtures must be full-cutoff, floodlights capped at 45 degrees…

New construction, additions and remodeling inside a Travis County Conservation Development must comply with the Dark…

Tyler is not a formal dark-sky city, but its Unified Development Code requires site lighting to be fully shielded and…

Victoria requires all outdoor lighting on nonresidential and multi-family sites to be fully shielded and aimed away…

Within Waco's Brazos River Corridor overlay district, Section 28-809.1(e) requires that all outdoor lighting be…

Odessa's zoning code bars intense glare or direct illumination crossing a property line into neighboring land, treating…

Brownsville has no dark-sky ordinance. The Unified Development Code reserves section 4.6.7 for lighting standards and…

Guadalupe County has no dark-sky ordinance for private homes. Texas has no general outdoor-lighting statute, but Local…

Williamson County has no dark-sky lighting ordinance for private property. Texas has no general outdoor-lighting…

Abilene bans glare that reaches beyond the property line: Land Development Code Section 4.2.7.2(a) states no direct or…

Amarillo's industrial performance standards bar glare that crosses onto neighboring property. Under City Code Sec…

Multi-level parking garages in Arlington's Form-Based Zoning Districts must angle all exterior lighting downward to cut…

Baytown's Unified Land Development Code bars outdoor lighting from shining directly into a neighbor's home and caps…

Bryan limits outdoor lighting in its Innovation Corridor overlay to 0.50 lumens at the property line next to homes and…

Carrollton caps light trespass onto neighboring property at two-tenths of a foot-candle measured five feet above grade…

Cedar Park requires accent, architectural, and landscape lighting fixtures to be located, aimed, or shielded so they…

Celina zoning caps how much outdoor lighting can spill onto a neighboring property, with a hard zero-footcandle limit…

Converse requires off-street parking lot lighting to be arranged so the light source doesn't obstruct public view or…

Corpus Christi declares it a nuisance to run a spotlight, flashing sign, or other illuminated light within 200 feet of…

Dallas prohibits any use with a visible light source that produces glare or direct illumination crossing a property…

Denton exempts eave-height soffit and wall-mounted security lights on houses from full lighting review, but only if…

El Paso's Outdoor Lighting Code caps light spilling onto a neighbor's yard at 0.25 footcandles measured at the…

Farmersville caps glare crossing a property line at one-quarter foot-candle for residential uses and requires every…

New outdoor luminaires over 1800 lumens in unincorporated Fort Bend County must be fully or partially shielded by lamp…

Fort Worth doesn't cap ordinary yard or porch lighting citywide, but its zoning ordinance regulates light spilling onto…

Frisco's Zoning Ordinance caps how much light can spill onto a neighbor's property: no more than one-quarter footcandle…

Fulshear's development code requires security lighting to be full cut-off, keeping 100% of light output below 90…

Garland caps outdoor lighting at 0.5 footcandle above ambient light measured at the property line and bars any light…

Grand Prairie caps how much light any use can throw onto a neighbor's land: outdoor fixtures must be aimed so the beam…

Harlingen requires illuminated signs within 200 feet of a residential lot line to use diffused or indirect lighting so…

In Irving's State Highway 161 overlay district, exterior lighting cannot cast glare onto neighboring lots or streets…

Killeen declares light trespass onto a neighbor's property unlawful under section 31-898(c), and backs the ban with a…

Leander requires every permanent nonresidential exterior fixture to be shielded so the light source itself is never…

Lewisville's Sec. 9-3 bars any light source that throws intense glare or direct illumination across a property line…

Lubbock caps how much outdoor light a property can throw onto its neighbors, setting maximum vertical illuminance at…

Midland requires exterior light sources on private property to be fully shielded from view at the lot line, with the…

Mission requires cut-off fixtures on nonresidential lighting so light isn't visible at the property line, capping…

Outdoor lighting on non-residential and multifamily sites can't throw more than 0.25 foot-candles onto a neighboring…

Odessa's zoning ordinance bars intense glare or direct illumination from crossing a property line into neighboring…

Parker's subdivision code bars outdoor lighting from throwing glare or direct illumination across a property line…

Pearland's Unified Development Code requires outdoor light fixtures in Residential Retail Node developments to be…

Pharr's zoning code bars any artificial light source from casting direct rays across a zone boundary line, so security…

Plano treats outdoor security lighting as "Class II" lighting under Sec. 6-466, and Table 3 in Sec. 6-469(a)(1)…

Richardson caps how bright a light can be at a property line: outdoor lighting in any zoning district cannot exceed one…

Rockwall requires exterior lights on private property to be shielded and aimed down so no direct illumination or harsh…

Round Rock's development code requires outdoor light fixtures to sit fully recessed in opaque housing, capping…

Rowlett's exterior lighting standard bans off-site light spillover outright: Sec. 77-510(B)(1)(d)(4) says exterior…

San Angelo caps light at a residential property line at 0.05 foot-candles and bars any light beam directed across a…

San Antonio's Unified Development Code requires outdoor lighting for signs, parking, and other uses to be arranged so…

Site lighting inside Vision Park, the roughly 36-acre planned development along the I-45 frontage in Shenandoah…

Sugar Land caps how much light a nonresidential or multi-family property can spill onto its neighbors: no more than 2…

Taylor's Land Development Code bars outdoor lighting from causing light trespass or nuisance onto a neighboring…

Temple caps outdoor light spilling onto neighboring homes with a bulb-visibility test tied to full-cutoff fixtures.

Tyler's Unified Development Code prohibits lighting that unnecessarily illuminates and substantially interferes with a…

Victoria requires outdoor lighting on nonresidential and multi-family projects to be fully shielded and directed away…

In the Brazos River Corridor overlay, Section 28-809.1(c) caps how much light a commercial or industrial property can…

Brownsville defines light trespass and glare in its Unified Development Code and requires site plans to minimize glare…

Amarillo treats adding lights to a dark, legally nonconforming billboard, or brightening an already-lit one, as a…

Carrollton bans new commercial billboards outright under § 151.12(E) of the Sign Code, but lets a nonconforming…

Denton bans signs illuminated so intensely or without shielding that they hazard drivers or intrude on nearby homes…

Garland requires every digital billboard to carry both a dimmer control and a photocell that automatically adjusts…

Pearland's Unified Development Code bans off-premise billboards outright unless part of a City-adopted signage program…

Austin's Land Development Code requires billboard lighting to use fully-shielded or full cut-off fixtures under the…

Dallas limits how bright an illuminated sign, including a billboard-style detached non-premise sign, may be and bans…

Digital billboards (CEVM signs) in El Paso can't shine brighter than 0.3 foot-candles above ambient light, measured at…

Fort Worth's Sign Code bars any sign, including billboards, from being lit to an intensity that causes glare or impairs…

Every illuminated sign in Frisco, including electronic message boards, is capped at 750 candelas per square meter under…

Electrical signs visible from Harris County toll roads are capped at 10 bulbs of 100 watts on a single 120-volt…

Irving's digital-billboard permit rules under Section 7-4.2(b) set hard limits on how a converted freeway billboard can…

Laredo requires every illuminated sign, including off-premise billboards, to shield its light source so no beam crosses…

Off-site advertising displays and billboards in Plano can only run their lights from dusk to 11:00 p.m. under Sec…

San Antonio caps how bright a digital sign or billboard can glow under Code of Ordinances Sec. 28-43: full-color…

Taylor's Land Development Code defines "lighting" broadly enough to expressly include billboard illumination, so…

Waco regulates the illumination of digital off-premises signs (electronic billboards) under Sec. 28-1077 of the zoning…